Mar 18, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has decided to allocate Rs. 1.5 billion as fertilizer subsidy for Tea, Coconut, and Rubber for this year according to a special request made by the Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake, the government news portal said.

Accordingly, the Small Tea Estate Development Authority will be allocated Rs. 900 million, Coconut Cultivation Board will be allocated Rs. 500 million, and the Rubber Development Department will be allocated Rs. 100 million.

All these provisions have been allocated for the year 2017 and the Ministry of Plantation said that they expect to allocate financial provisions depending on the progress of the distribution of fertilizer subsidy. The relevant authorities have been instructed to provide this subsidy to the cultivators before 30th June this year.

The small tea estate owners are able to receive a maximum of Rs. 15,000 per hectare as the subsidy while the owners of a 20-perch land are also eligible for the subsidy.

For coconut plantations, the subsidy will be granted for a land extent of a minimum of a quarter acre and a maximum of five acres and the maximum fertilizer subsidy is Rs. 9,000. The application form for the fertilizer subsidy could be collected from head office, the regional offices, or the coconut development officers.

Rubber cultivators with a land extent of between 20 perches and two hectares are eligible for the subsidy and they will get a maximum of Rs. 5,000. The application can be obtained from the regional offices or from rubber development officers.